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Bonanza

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This article is about the television program. For other uses, see Bonanza (disambiguation).
Bonanza
StarringPernell Roberts
Lorne Greene
Dan Blocker
Michael Landon
Victor Sen Yung
Guy Williams
David Canary
Mitch Vogel
Ray Teal
Bing Russell
Tim Matheson
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons14
No. of episodes430
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkNBC
Release1959 –
1973

Bonanza is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons, it is among the longest running Western television series (behind Gunsmoke) and continues to air sporadically on stations across the country. It is one of the most prolific television series of all time. The original series spawned successful novelty folk albums from 1962-65; a chain of Bonanza & Ponderosa steak houses from 1964-present; the Lake Tahoe based "Ponderosa" theme park from 1967-2004; a line of action-figure dolls, lunch buckets and View Master sets from 1965-1973; three TV sequel movies from 1988-1995; a 20 episode 2001 PAX prequel series entitled "Ponderosa"; and "Bonanza Gold" a current quarterly magazine .

Origins

Bonanza got its name from the Comstock Lode which was "an exceptionally large and rich mineral deposit" of silver. Virginia City was founded directly over the lode and was mined for 19 years. Ponderosa was an alternative title of the series, used for the broadcast of syndicated reruns while "Bonanza" was in first-run on NBC. Ponderosa is also the name of a series prequel airing on PAX-TV from 2001-02.

The Bonanza pilot, "Rose for Lotta", was written by David Dortort, who also produced the series. Dortort's other creations include The Restless Gun, The High Chaparral, The Cowboys, and the Bonanza prequel, Ponderosa. For most of its 430 episode run, the main sponsor of Bonanza was Chevrolet and the stars occasionally appeared in commercials endorsing Chevrolet automobiles. All of the regular cast members had appeared in numerous stage, television and film productions before Bonanza, but none was particularly well-known.

In 1959, the series aired on Saturday evenings opposite, "The Perry Como Hour". Bonanza was one of the first series to be filmed and broadcast in color. RCA owned NBC (and the series) and wanted to use it to spur sales of color receivers. However, the Saturday night ratings were dismal and Bonanza was soon targeted for cancellation. Given one last chance it was moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 PM. The new time slot caused the series to soar, and it eventually reached number one by the mid-'60s; by 1970, it had become the first series to ever wind up in the Top Five for nine consecutive seasons (a record which would stand for decades) and thus established itself as the single biggest hit TV series of the 1960s; it remained high on the Nielsen ratings until 1971, when it finally fell out of the top ten.

The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated with incorrect bearings. David Dortort, choosing not to redo the map, altered the compass points. The original painting was done by artist Robert Temple Ayres.

Premise

The show chronicled the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by wise, thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene). He had three sons, each by a different wife: the oldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright (played by Pernell Roberts) who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric, better known by his nickname: "Hoss" (played by Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (played by Michael Landon). The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing (played by Victor Sen Yung). "Bonanza" was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors and their land.

The family lived on a thousand-square-mile ranch called "The Ponderosa", on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada; the name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell). Greene, Roberts, Blocker, and Landon were equal stars. The opening credits rotated among four versions, with each of the four being shown first in one version (in the order above). As the series advanced, writers began to showcase one or two Cartwrights in each episode, while the others would be seen briefly in the prologue and epilogue. Not only did this provide for more thorough character development, it also gave all four actors more free time.

Originally, the Cartwrights tended to be depicted as put-off by outsiders. Lorne Greene pointed out to the producers that as one of the region's most affluent timber and livestock producers, they had better moderate their clannishness. The producers agreed with this observation and changed the Cartwrights to be more amiable.

Early in the show's history, the thrice widowed Ben Cartwright, recalls each wife in flashback episodes. A recurring situation (which also occurs in the TV western The Big Valley), was that every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from a malady, was slain, or left with someone else. As with all hit programs, disturbing a successful formula could be a major blunder.

The Cast

The Cast of Bonanza

Though not familiar stars in 1959, the cast quickly became favorites of the first TV generation. Lorne Greene, known as the "Voice of Canada," was a fairly successful announcer, actor and drama coach in his native land; he gained notority during World War II for his deep, resonant voice, and the maudlin task of reading the weekly casualty list to his radio audience. Ben Cartwright, as Greene once described him, was "suede leather," as he was both a strong and soft patriarch. Greene recorded several record albums in character as Ben Cartwright, scoring a #1 hit with his dramatic spoken word performance of "Ringo." He also recorded a version of the Bonanza theme.

Georgia-born Pernell Roberts was a familiar face at studio lots in the late 1950s according to producer David Dortort, who saw him in a "Gunsmoke" episode. The young actor won a prestigious Drama Desk award in 1955 for his performance in an off-Broadway rendition of "MacBeth". Roberts had long disdained the commercialization of his craft for its mass production, assembly-line mindset. In 1964 he told Look magazine's John Poppy, "I just get on and ask somebody for the lines and say them. They have to turn-out 34 a season, one every six days". But the B-movie quality of the scripts were what the actor disdained most, "the plots, the godawful plots. They take a plot and write it six different ways for six different Sundays. One week its lawyers night, next week its ranchers night. You change protagonist, but its the same old plot. And the writing-GAD!". An accomplished singer as well as stage actor, he recorded an album of folk ballads entitled "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies". He left the series in February 1965 after disagreements with writers and producer David Dortort. According to the July 2005 Bonanza Gold issue, David Dortort said his intent was to have a married Adam appear less frequently, thus making him a semi-regular. It was a move to broker with Roberts, who vowed not to renew his contract. Attempts to replace him were made by introducing Ben's stepson, Clay, (played briefly by Barry Coe) and Will, a nephew (played by Zorro star Guy Williams), but neither lasted. Two of the remaining stars felt that storylines which created new Cartwrights could potentially defeat their own contract negotiations, so Williams' Will Cartright wound up leaving the series with Adam's fiancèe. Williams moved on to Lost in Space and never revived the Will role.

Three hundred pound Dan Blocker, played the gentle middle son Eric, AKA "Hoss". Born in Texas, he was a teacher before becoming Hoss. The character had a warm heart and a penchant for lost causes. The Hoss character was originally conceived as "lovable but slow-witted". Blocker, however, was the only cast member with an advanced degree, a Masters in Dramatic Arts. In 1968, Blocker began wearing a toupee on the series as he was approaching forty and losing hair. He joined the ranks of his fellow co-stars Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene, both of whom began the series with hairpieces (Greene wore his modest frontal piece in private life too, whereas Roberts preferred not wearing his, even to rehearsals/blocking). Michael Landon was the only original cast member to be wig-free throughout the series, as even Victor Sen Yung's Hop Sing wore an attached queue (pony tail).

It was young Michael Landon who received most of the fan mail, and was seen in female oriented teen magazines. In addition to acting, Landon began to develop his skills in writing and directing Bonanza episodes, starting with "The Gamble." Some of the shows Landon directed are considered to be the most moving including, "The Wish." , "He Was Only Seven", and "Forever". According to David Dortort, Landon himself grew difficult during the last five seasons the show ran, "Nearly every line, every scene, every set up... everything would halt for endless story conferences on the set... it got increasingly bitter toward the end." In a 1992 memorial restrospective directed by the star's son Michael Jr., cast member David Canary said that the one word that most discribed Landon to him was, "fearless".

In 1967, David Canary joined the cast as "Candy" Canaday, a confident army-brat turned cowboy, who became the Cartwrights' foreman and confidant. The character vanished in 1970 after Canary himself had a contract dispute with Dortort. He would later return.

In 1970, 14-year-old Mitch Vogel joined the series as Jamie Hunter, the orphaned son of a rainmaker. Ben adopted Jamie in a 1971 episode. During this character's run on the show, Bonanza ratings fell greatly [1][2]

In 1972, Dan Blocker suddenly died from a post-op blood-clot to the lungs. The show's producers chose to simply mention the character's death in passing (this had been done earlier in 1956 with Make Room For Daddy and in 1963 with The Real McCoys, wherein the female leads of each show chose not to renew their contracts). "Bonanza" was moved to Tuesday nights against a new CBS sitcom, Maude. Both events signaled the end of the program. Canary returned to his former role of Candy (to make up for Blocker's absence), and a new character named Griff King (played by Tim Matheson) was added to lure younger viewers. Griff, accused of killing his heavy-handed stepfather, was paroled into Ben's custody and got a job as a ranch hand. Several episodes were built around his character, one Matheson never had a chance to fully develop before the show's sudden demise in January 1973. Many fans felt that the Hoss character was essential, as he was a nurturing, empathetic soul who rounded-out the all-male cast.

From the third season on, the Cartwrights and nearly every other recurring character on the show wore the same clothing in almost every episode. This was done to cut the cost of refilming action shots (such as riding clips in-between scenes), as previously-shot stock footage could be reused.

  • Ben Cartwright: Taupe shirt, Brown leather vest, gray pants, creme colored hat, occasional green scarf
  • Adam Cartwright: Black Shirt, Black or dark blue pants, black hat. Ellegant city wear. Cream-colored trail coat.
  • Hoss Cartwright: White shirt, brown suede vest, brown pants, distinctive 10-gallon hat.
  • Little Joe Cartwright: cream, gray or white shirt, green corduroy jacket, tan pants, tan hat. Black leather gloves from 10th season on.
  • Candy Canaday: Crimson shirt, black pants, black leather vest and hat, green/grey scarf.
File:Daviddortortcard.jpg
Bonanza's credits were names superimposed over charcoal drawings. This card was a rendition of creator/producer David Dortort, portrayed here as an overseer in mines.

Ratings

Year Ranking Year Ranking Year Ranking
1960-1961[3] 17 1964-1965[4] 1 1968-1969[5] 3
1961-1962[6] 2 1965-1966[7] 1 1969-1970[8] 3
1962-1963[9] 4 1966-1967[10] 1 1970-1971[1] 8
1963-1964[11] 2 1967-1968[12] 4 1971-1972[2] 20

After cancellation

For 14 years, the Cartwrights were the premier western family on American television and have been immensely popular on cable networks such as TV Land, ION (formerly PAX), and the Hallmark Channel. In the UK, the show is aired on the Bonanza channel on skyTV.

Following the program's cancellation:

TV Movies

Bonanza was brought back for three made-for-TV movies featuring the Cartwrights' offspring: Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988), Bonanza: The Return (1993) and Bonanza: Under Attack (1995). Michael Landon, Jr., played Little Joe's son Benji while Gillian Greene, Lorne's daughter, played a love interest. In the second movie, airing on NBC, a one hour retrospective was done to introduce the drama. It was hosted by both Michael Landon Jr. and Dirk Blocker. According to TV Guide, NBC told Blocker he was too old to play the Hoss scion, but was given the role of an unrelated newspaper reporter. Clips of his appearance were heavily used in advertisements promoting the "second generation" theme. Hoss' son Josh was born out-of-wedlock, as it is explained that Hoss drowned without knowing his fiance was pregnant. Such a storyline could have been problematic in the original series. ("The Big Valley", however, had a major character in Heath, who was presented as illegitimate. The "Gunsmoke" movies of the early 1990s employed a similar theme with Matt Dillon having sired an illegitimate daughter to a Michael Learned character, first seen in 1975).

The Prequel

In 2001, there was an attempt to revive the series' concept with a prequel, Ponderosa, with a pilot directed by Kevin James Dobson and filmed in Australia. Covering the time when the Cartwrights first arrived at the Ponderosa, it lasted 20 episodes. The prequel had less gunfire and brawling than the original. Bonanza creator David Dortort approved PAX TV's decision to hire Beth Sullivan, a producer from Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, which some believe gave the series a softer edge.

Theme Song

Bonanza also featured a memorable theme song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that is often parodied. Lorne Greene and the cast recorded versions of the song with lyrics.

The Bonanza theme is one of the best known pieces of made-for-television music, and variations of it were used for twelve seasons of the series. In 1968, a new percussion-heavy arrangement of the original theme was introduced; the new version was used until 1970. A new theme song, called "The Big Bonanza" was written in 1970 by episode scorer David Rose, and was used from 1970-1972. A faster rendition of the original theme returned for the 14th and final season.

The theme song has been recorded by numerous artists in a diverse variety of styles. Well known American country singer Johnny Cash recorded a version of the theme song, released on his sixteenth album: "Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash." Singer Ralf Paulsen recorded a German-language version of the song, in 1963. Michael Feinstein last recorded the song in 2003 on his, "Songs of Evans and Livingston" tribute CD.

The Little House on the Prairie theme (also by Rose), was heard first in a 1971 episode of "Bonanza". The overture for The High Chaparral composed by Harry Sukman can be heard briefly at the start of the 1966 episode "Four Sisters from Boston".

Set

The program's Nevada set, the Ponderosa Ranch house, was recreated in Incline Village, Nevada, in 1967, and remained a tourist attraction world-wide until its sale in September 2004.

Bonanza on VHS and DVD

A handful of episodes of the series are in the public domain, and some TV showings of these episodes on low-budget stations and networks (and also on low-budget public domain DVDs and VHS tapes) substitute the familiar theme music for generic music.

In 1973, NBC licensed the syndication rights to the series to National Telefilm Associates, which changed its name to Republic Pictures in the 1980s (by then part of the Spelling Entertainment organization). Select episodes ("The Best of Bonanza") were officially released in North America in 2003 on DVD via then-Republic video licensee Artisan Entertainment (which was later purchased by Lionsgate Home Entertainment). Republic still retains the syndication distribution rights to the series, and lately the series is distributed world-wide via CBS Paramount Television, which owns the Republic Library. DVD distribution details are currently under on-going negotiation, but CBS DVD is now the home video rights holder.

Bonanza Ventures, Inc. grants merchandising and licensing rights worldwide. One of its licensees is the magazine, Bonanza Gold, which features detailed information about the show, including interviews with actors and other production personnel, articles about historical events and people depicted in the series, fan clubs and fan fiction.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b TV Ratings: 1970
  2. ^ a b TV Ratings: 1971
  3. ^ TV Ratings: 1960
  4. ^ TV Ratings: 1964
  5. ^ TV Ratings: 1968
  6. ^ TV Ratings: 1961
  7. ^ TV Ratings: 1965
  8. ^ TV Ratings: 1969
  9. ^ TV Ratings: 1962
  10. ^ TV Ratings: 1966
  11. ^ TV Ratings: 1963
  12. ^ TV Ratings: 1967

Fan Sites

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